


Host Story

by water_bby



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-25
Updated: 2011-02-25
Packaged: 2017-10-15 22:45:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/165625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/water_bby/pseuds/water_bby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi's friends meet his housemates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Host Story

**Author's Note:**

> written for the "Fantasy & Supernatural:Ghosts" square in Round 1 of [**au_bingo**](http://community.livejournal.com/au_bingo/)

Kakashi's friends had, at first, been happy when he seemed perfectly fine with taking time to recover from the grievous injuries he'd suffered during his most recent mission. They had been prepared to listen to him complain about not being allowed to resume training, they had been prepared to restrain him (and force would, they knew, be necessary) when he started training against medical advice, and they had been prepared to aid and abet Gai in developing dozens of challenges that would not overtax Kakashi's injuries. They had not, however, been prepared for Kakashi to emerge from the small house where he was recovering solely for his appointments with the medics, to buy food at the market, and to attend their weekly drinks-and-gambling night. Kakashi had never been the most social of their circle, but he had not been a hermit, either. So this compliant, easy-going Kakashi worried them.

At first, they tried to get him to talk, which, not surprisingly, failed. Then they schemed to extract the information as Kakashi's forfeit after losing one of Gai's challenges -- but Kakashi won all the challenges. Finally, they hit upon the perfect plan -- they nominated Kakashi as host for the next party.

Whatever they were expecting when they arrived at the small house, it was not to have the door opened by a blond boy wearing a bright orange jumpsuit. He waved them in, talking non-stop about how exciting it was that there were visitors. Before any one could ask him who he was (and, more importantly, why he was apparently living with Kakashi), the boy, never breaking his stream of words, walked through the door to the sitting room. Through it. Everyone turned to Kurenai, waiting for the illusion expert's response. She could only shrug, however. Whatever the boy was, he wasn't an illusion.

The door swung open a moment later to frame another boy, this one was wearing the insigna of the now-vanished Uchiha clan. He glared at them and then turned and walked back into the room. Kakashi's friends followed, now even more bemused. Kakashi had never been one for kids, and now there were two in his house. Kakashi's voice drifted out from further back in the house, filled with laughter.

When they followed the voice, they found Kakashi in the kitchen, handing out cooled bottles of beer to the blond boy as the latter regaled the rest of the people in the kitchen with the story of how he'd opened the front door for Kakashi's guests. Said guests weren't quite sure why opening the door was such an accomplishment, and the Uchiha boy apparently shared this opinion, as he tried to quiet the blond with insults. Kakashi merely laughed, the girl who was placing the snacks for the night on beautiful porcelein plates rolled her eyes, and the man who was washing dishes at the sink sighed.

By the time Kakashi's friends had drawn breath to ask him for introductions, the bottles and the plates had been carried into the sitting room, the cards had been retrieved and set out on the table, and the four strangers had disappeared -- they'd walked out of the kitchen and vanished.

After a long night of games and alcohol, Kakashi's friends still didn't understand what had happened. They had more questions now than when they had cornered Kakashi into hosting the night's get-together, but still no answers. So they gathered their things and took their leave.

Only Gai noticed the ancient photograph hanging on the wall near the bottom of the stairs. From the fading brown image, the man and the girl and the boys looked out at him with the stiff formality that marked most photographic portraits of the age. When he asked Kakashi about it the next day, the other man simply shrugged and said it was a rare survivor of the school fire of some 60 years before. And then he smirked.


End file.
